Philly Comic Con VIDEO: Brent Spiner ‘Happy Data Blew Up’ + Doesn’t Expect To Be In Next Star Trek + Crashes Patrick Stewart Q&A

Last weekend a number of Trek celebrities attended Wizard World’s Philadelphia Comic Con, including Next Generation stars Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner. And in video available online (below) you can see Spiner talking about (not) appearing in the new Star Trek movies and the death of Data, plus another video shows Spiner hilariously crash Stewart’s Q&A session.

Spiner on not appearing in new Trek and being ‘happy’ about Data’s death

During his Q&A Spiner talked about advise for young actors and hinted at a new project "coming soon". Spiner also said that he has not been approached to appear in the new Star Trek movies, joking "how can I do a prequel? Just look at me." The actor told the audience that he was "satisfied" with what he had done with the character of Data over the years. Specifically on the death of Data in Star Trek: Nemesis, Spiner stated:

I was happy to see [Data] blow up. If you are going to go out, go out in a blaze. People really didn’t really care for how Data met his end at the end of Nemesis, but we killed Data and then Paramount killed everybody else. So really what is the difference? It was really all of our last film. We knew it was over and we thought it would be a nice emotional ending, but no one agreed.

Here is the video (thanks to camilereads).

Spiner crashes Stewart’s Q&A

Sir Patrick Stewart also had his own panel. In the video below you can see after he answered a question on his most embarrassing role (Wild Geese 2), his Q&A was crashed by Brent Spiner who had some questions for "Lord Stewart." (video via mratoz)

 

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It was unfortunate Nemesis didn’t come together better based on the caliber of its screenwriter.

I love Brent! =)

I hope they DO use him in ST2012!

Wild Geese III: The Wrath of Data

I’m so there!

Just because your ending a show, set of movies, or have a character leaving doesn’t mean you need to kill them off. I hate that about writers. You kill someone and usually it means they are gone for good.

Another thing that makes me made is relationships. You can start off with a married couple and thats ok. Dating usually doesn’t last and people rarely ever get married. Tom and Belana were an exception (even that didn’t happen till the last season). Look at troi and riker. They only let them get married because it was their last movie. Nothing ever happened with trip and tpoll after their initial encounter. Xander and Anya (buffy the vampire slayer) never got married. Just as willow and tera were getting back together tera was killed.

After my vote, the poll is in a perfect 3-way tie. How appropriate.

I loved the character Data. But Spiner could not have played him much longer, and I would have cringed had anyone else tried to take on the role. By destroying him, we don’t need to worry too much about someone trying.

On the other hand, I would have dropped everything to do with B-4, which would have saved us from Worf singing Gilbert & Sullivan, as well as the space dune buggy.

– Harry

To me, Data had a very heroic death, If Spiner didn’t like it, he could have refused to end his Data Character that way. Much Like Shatner in 1994’s Generations. He could have said No.

Perhaps it could have been done better. Maybe if he was not blown up but deactivated so if left a body… as it was with Spock in TWOK.

However, Brent is hilarious on stage at the CONs. He is a riot with his stories and interactions. Plus he is very fan friendly when he takes the time to speak to the fans. You can see him playing Craps inb Las Vegas at the Hilton.

Since it was going to be the last TNG movie anyhow, I would have like the ending to be the Enterprise crashing into Shinzon’s ship and the Enterprise crew perishing to save the Federation. One character dying in a tv show or movie is totally over played now…lets see some real drama!

I was fine with Data dying, it was the rest of the movie being a Wrath of Khan cheap rip off that pissed me off. If the rest of the movie deserved Data’s death then I would’ve sniffled and cried like I do every time I see Kirk’s eulogy of Spock. Instead I am as pissed off about Data as I was when Kirk was cheaply killed off.

#5

Worf (and Picard as well as Data) singing Gilbert & Sullivan was from “Insurrection”.

I had no problem with Data’s death. Very heroic. It was fitting for a character whose quest was to become “human”.

On the other hand, the writers of “Countdown” brought him back using B-4. Not canon per se, but it makes Data’s sacrifice moot. Kind of conflicted about that.

9… But…. Data dying was PART of Nemesis being a cheap TWOK rip off… I’m sure you see that?

Either B-4 or Shinzon should not have existed. Two duplicates of two main characters is too much for one movie.

Data’s death was to much of a Wrath of Khan Spock rip-off. In fact, the whole B4 subplot sucked and only existed to keep a modicum of Data alive should another film had been made.

There. I said it.

….. and furthermore, I don’t buy into this “We all knew it was going to be our last film” crap. Had Nemesis been a financial and critical success they would have trotted out two or three more TNG films by now.

There. I said it again.

#4

“Just because your ending a show, set of movies, or have a character leaving doesn’t mean you need to kill them off. I hate that about writers. You kill someone and usually it means they are gone for good. ”

I agree. This seems to be a new trend and I can’t quite fathom the reason – ego on the part of the writers? The need to shock the audience? The desire to be the one who “killed” of some beloved character? It smacks of sticking it to the fans, and I frankly find it disgusting. Its a slap in the face of fans who have helped support a franchise for years and shows a total disregard for their feelings and a real lack of understanding of how fandom really works.

Brent, it wasn’t emotional because you were still back on the bloody Enterprise! I’m sorry, but it was a total cop-out to have B-4 sitting there looking thick while he slowly worked through the programming that Data had previously downloaded into him. So, in the unlikely event of another TNG movie being made, there you’d have been. Same actor playing, essentially, the same character. It was weak beyond belief. And cynical too. Terribly so.
There, got that off my chest!

Didn’t agree with it then and I still don’t now. If the goal was to make Data achieve the ultimate high point of humanity–sacrifice himself to save another–okay. So he achieved his multi-year quest to be human. But couldn’t there have been some other way? Then there’s the “I’ll download everything to B4” gig and the humming of the song at the end. VIola! Data is still with us! That didn’t work for me at all.

The writers did SUCH a good job developing Data as a character over the show and in the early movies. (Remember when he stuck in the emotion chip and was drinking in Ten Forward. “Yes! That’s it! I that this!” he says with a huge smile on his face). IMHO, he deserved so much more that.

Right on, Trek Lady! Sometimes heroes can be heroes and live to a nice ripe old age and not have to have some concocted dramatic exit.

Which is why I still have bile in the back of my throad over Kirk’s demise in Generations.

It wasn’t as sorry as they way they killed Kirk off…..it’s always sad when a beloved character leaves us….and I guess that if they had made more TNG movies…B4 would have been ok…Data starts all over agin….

13 and 14 lol just read your posts! Kindred spirits!

#10

You are absolutely right. Show’s you how often I re-watch THOSE movies. Which means twice the B4 to annoy us with.

And yes, I saw Data’s resurrection in “Countdown.” *sigh*

As much as I loved TNG, the only movie they made that I frequently re-watch is First Contact.

– Harry

How the handled Data’s demise was actuall OK (but not great) but the in your face Data/Before memory download ruined everything.

Also I liked Shinzon and how Tom Hard portraied him bur I really despised Stewart’s out of character handling of Picard as the schildish action boy….

Why didn’t Spiner ask to see Stewart’s belly?

I always thought Data should have been given human organic skin eventually, particularly for the movies. I think it would have been a cool, new leap for his character allowing him to age and not looking as hokey as he looked in the movies. The makeup just never looked right in the movies as it did in the show.

Data’s character took a nose-dive after he was implanted with the emotion chip in Generations. He became unlikeable, unfunny, and annoying. Pinnochio became human. There was nowhere else to go.

Brent rulz.

Data blew up?

I knew Data “died” in that film, but I never realized he got to ‘splode. That’s a little cool. Almost tempted to rent it now :)

Nemesis was poorly executed. Given how bad the starting of the film was…. the last 20 minute battle couldn’t save the film’s horrible start. Thats the main reason why no one cares about Data’s death. People just wanted the damn movie to end already….. sadly.

I still love all the Trek movies…. its just one of the poorly executed films.

Despite the obvious TWOK rip-off, John Logan’s original script had the makings of a decent adventure and send-off for the TNG cast.

In the hands of someone who actually cared about Trek (e.g. Frakes), we probably would have had more of the character moments that ended up being deleted. Seeing that post-wedding scene between Picard and Data, or Riker’s joke on the new first officer would have been more satisfying and memorable than all of the forgettable exposition we end up getting from Shinzon.

#10 canon got redefined for the nuTrek; now everything directly relating to nuTrek’s timeline is official canon, the Countdown comics, the movie, the Nero comics, everything… so there LOL

#26–excuse me? what movie were you watching? in Nemesis, when Data fired his phaser into the Scimitar’s thaleron matrix, the ship went kaboom and Data with it…what, did ya think Q snatched him out from death’s doorstep like he did Picard in the 6th season ep Tapestry? NOTE: that wouldve been a better ending, at Data’s wake in Picards quarters afterward, suddenly have a human version of Data appear and Data tell everyone that at the last sec Q snatched him out and made him human…thus Brent couldve continued playing Data with his aging… because Data wouldve been human henceforth…the rest of the movie couldve gone on as it did, except what Picard said to B-4 in his quarters wouldve been different, as would Picard’s mood.

P.S.–thank me everyone for the new social networking share buttons; i’m the one who emailed the site staff and suggested them LOL j/k im humble i dont need thanking LOL

also: Spiner could do a prequel… in the rebooted universe he could play another ancestor of Noonien Soong like he did in 3 episodes of Enterprise’s 4th season…

@26 I don’t think Data really “blew up” per say. It was more like probably vaporized being so close to the explosion. So if you’re looking to see Data’s parts flying in every direction, you may be disappointed.

Oh… and I love Brent and Sir Patrick’s interaction at conventions. Classic!!!!!

We Still have B-4.

#31: “So if you’re looking to see Data’s parts flying in every direction, you may be disappointed.”

D’oh. That was in fact what I pictured; thanks for the heads-up. So it wasn’t that Data blew up, it was that something _else_ blew up?

#21 “As much as I loved TNG, the only movie they made that I frequently re-watch is First Contact.”

Ha! I thought I was the only one that did that.

#11 ” But…. Data dying was PART of Nemesis being a cheap TWOK rip off… I’m sure you see that?”

I mean, if they had a non rip off story that was well written and executed and then capped off with Data having to sacrifice himself I would’ve been fine with that. The death of a main character deserves a proper send off, a proper storyline, this felt rushed and cheap, because the rest of the movie felt rushed and cheap.

^31. Of course there are many opportunities to see Data in various states of damage, dismemberment and decapitation throughout the series and films.

Of course Brent could play Data again. Technology would allow molds of Brent’s head made during TNG to be scanned to make a digital Data appearing exactly as Brent did in 1987, and Brent could bring it to life with a Avatar-quality motion capture performance.

I thought it was time for Data and his mates to be done.

However, if you wanted to continue, Spiner’s age isn’t this insuperable problem. It would take ten seconds to fix.

“Captain, I believe my emotion chip has triggered a sub-program that I was not aware of.”

“Are you all right, Mr. Data?”

“Yes sir. But I believe that I am now….aging.”( Plucks gray hair).

End of problem

Yes, I prefer that Brent play Dr. Arik Soong again, in ST2012.

He was EXCELLENT in the Enterprise “augment” episodes!

“Of course Brent could play Data again. Technology would allow molds of Brent’s head made during TNG to be scanned to make a digital Data appearing exactly as Brent did in 1987, and Brent could bring it to life with a Avatar-quality motion capture performance.”

That sounds expensive.

Also, I agree with everybody above who said Nemesis was bad because it was a lukewarm retread of TWOK. Nimoy did it better and without showtunes.

@38
Nice thought but make it more emotional, Data actually wants to age, maybe he found a pretty lady or lad, or triped.

Awwwwwwwwwwwk!

I thought Nemesis had a great villain in Shizone… Shitzon… Shizzie-O…
Picard’s clone… and he had great exposition scenes as he wanted ta’ get ta’ know Picard afore’ he drank all his blood…

Data’s death wuz’ unsatis’afying… but whose death could e’er be satisfactory? I think “Nemesis” wuz’ a grand film in tha’ middle bits wherein they meet Shitzon. Wonderful moments thar’ wit’ Picard and his Nemysis. Though- a human commandin’ Rommies? Well, it wuz’ a movie…

Then it gets silly. “We have no more photon torpedos.” Uhhhhhhh… let’s shoot Data at ’em then! Wait- dunna’ shuttiecrafts have transy-porters he could have used?

At tha’ end o’ tha’ film, like all else, I expected B4 ta’ become tha’ new Data…
O’ course I also thought that Thelma and Louise had parachutes.

Data indeed had wonderful moments. And Brent is a hoot!

‘Course I drink gin made o’ me own pee, so what does I knows?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

Spiner is suffering a misconception. I cared about how Data was going to die – which is why I think he deserved his *own* ending, and not a cheap TWOK ripoff. The only reason it seemed that people didn’t care is because Berman kept on making dreck. To say nothing of the Enterprise finalé… I mean he had the gumption to call that a ‘valentine’??

TNG really grew on me, I just think that the cast deserved a far better final movie.

‘How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life’.

Data’s death in Nemesis came out of the blue, part of a storyline which was distinctly un-TNG-sih. What should have been a celebration of Data’s life and a celebration of the TNG era drew too excessively (and poorly) from TWOK (a film of distinctly TOS character) with all but petty little contextual references and throwback to TNG (the Riker wedding, which made an admittedly pleasant opening, the contrived Lore-esque [and lore ignorant, by both meanings of the word] discovery of B4, and a few other odd comments, nothing more). Did I mention that the whole idea of the Romulan senate being utterly decimated with little ostensible impact (at least, as displayed on-screen) on Romulan culture/society was pretty outrageous. At least they didn’t blow up Romulus as they did Praxis …

..oh wait, that’s a whole other story…

That said, I relish any chance to see the TNG crew together on the big/small screen (lacking any other opportunity), but it was a damned shame it had to be like this.

Oh, but I do love Brent and Patrick so. I have very little trust in actors’ (or anybody’s) personalities towards the great public masses, so I can forgive some of the unbelievable and rhetorical nonsense they spout. I would love to see them on a more private stage, how they chat at dinner or go about the ordinary side of their lives… but then it wouldn’t really be a private stage anymore.

I enjoyed Nemesis. Can’t see why so many didn’t.

42 – ‘Course I drink gin made o’ me own pee, so what does I knows?’

More than Paramount, BND. More than Paramount.

The problem with Data’s death was because it was not organic to the story which was terrible. Spock’s was a good story because it was part of his overall arc (not taking the Kobayashi Maru test), but Data had put himself in danger in other episodes so the growth wasn’t there.

Much like Dax’s death, it was inserted at the wrong time for no reason other than a desire to no longer play the part. If Dax had died on the jungle planet, her death would have had more impact than being killed by wormhole aliens in a crummy episode swimming amidst the Dominion War.

I just thought as a whole TNG should have had a better send off. They revitalized the Star Trek franchise and were on TV over twice as long as the TOS crew. Kirk and co. got a great sendoff in VI I thought and I just think TNG deserved better. Part of my problem with how Data died and all is they left it open ended but we’ll never find out what happened. In some ways I wish there hadn’t been the whole B4 bit. Either way, it wasn’t nearly as bad as how they killed off Tripp at the end of Enterprise, I just like to pretend that episode never happened.

I wish he had blowed up real good. Like right at the start of the script idea sessions. Boom, and then everyone could have said, “He blowed up real good. Now let’s get a real script and make a decent last movie.”

But NOOOoooo…